Recovery
by SofFernandezz
Summary: After the car accident, Toby's in a coma. Through the sadness, jealousy, and love of this tragedy, Spencer and Toby have the daunting task of reevaluating the state of their relationship, and to understand if they can imagine a life without each other.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the English-translated version.**

1

With all of her friends near her, Spencer finally woke up from her hospital bed. After someone shot her, the doctors took her to surgery. And after the surgery, her friends began to wait. Emily, Alison, Aria, and Hanna sat in her emergency room for a long time, and the doctors didn't have a lot to say about her condition. They only said that they did everything that they could do, and all that they could do now was wait.

Her friends had a lot of moments of doubt. They _wanted_ to believe that she would wake up and everything would okay, but of course, they had those moments where those dark thoughts crossed their minds.

However, with all the luck in the universe, Spencer woke up. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She looked weaker, but nobody thought it was her fault... _someone_ shot her. Through the eyes of her friends, she was a survivor and was strong. Her friends smiled brightly. Inevitably, tears fell down their cheeks... tears of their happiness. The moments of their dark thoughts ended there.

Spencer Hastings survived the tragedy.

Of course, there were still many problems in their lives. The most evident problem was A.D. Spencer survived, but that didn't mean that it was the end of A.D. In fact, their problems only began here, because now they knew that A.D. wasn't playing games. A.D. wanted to harm all the girls and people who were important to them. A.D. _shot_ Spencer, and they didn't have an idea of whether she would survive or not. They didn't know what her fate would be, but they shot her anyways. _Charlotte_ never did anything that would actually kill them. A.D. was clearly playing a more dangerous game.

Also, all of the girls had smaller problems in their personal lives, although they stopped thinking about those small problems after A.D. shot Spencer. But while they moved back to their normal lives again, they would have to resolve those issues.

For example, Alison would have to deal with her pregnancy... and also, her feelings for Emily. And Emily would have to understand how to navigate her relationship with Alison (which was something that they still needed to talk about). She would become a part of Alison's pregnancy if she formed a relationship with her now. It would be extremely unknown territory.

Aria had a problem, too. Ezra discovered that Nicole didn't die, and they ended up kissing on TV... and Aria watched it all happen. She still hadn't spoken with Ezra about the problem because she had to focus on a bigger problem: Spencer in the hospital. But now that Spencer woke up, Aria knew that she would have to talk with her fiancé. She didn't know what Nicole and Ezra's kiss meant, but she knew that she couldn't ignore it. They couldn't get married until they resolved what happened.

Hanna didn't have many problems, however. She had fixed her relationship with Caleb, and now it was very stable. She could focus on resolving the mystery that was A.D.

"Oh, Spencer... you're alive... and you're okay," Aria said. "How are you?"

"Yeah, how do you feel, Spencer?" Hanna asked her.

Arching her eyebrows, Spencer answered in a small but audible voice. "I'm feeling about as well as a person who was just shot can feel."

Her friends laughed. The old Spencer seemed to be coming back.

Spencer continued, "When can I leave this place? I wanna go home, sleep in my own bed again..."

"Spencer, you just woke up. You don't need to go back home right now," Emily explained. "It's best that you stay here until you recover completely. I think that your mom would agree with me on that one. All that's important right now is that you're alive and well."

"Yeah, I wanna see my parents. They're probably really scared," Spencer said.

"Yeah, they are. The doctors went to the waiting room to tell them the good news, though," Aria said.

Spencer spoke with her parents and many other visitors. Caleb, Ezra, Melissa, Marco, Peter, Veronica, even _Paige_... all of them came to see her. But Spencer kept thinking about one face that she never saw come into her hospital room: Toby Cavanaugh. And she understood that he moved to Maine with Yvonne to start his life with her, but Spencer thought that Toby was the type of guy who would come back immediately if he heard that someone he knew was in the hospital.

Finally, she decided that she wanted to know the truth... that Toby didn't come to see her even once while she was in the hospital.

"Em, I need to ask you something," Spencer said.

"Of course. What is it?"

"It's about Toby."

"Spence..."

"Please, Emily. I need to know the truth. It's obvious, isn't it, though? The truth is that he never came to see me, right?"

"I don't know exactly what happened, but he never came to the hospital to see you. I think that it's kinda weird... I know that your relationship ended a long time ago, but he's not the type of guy that wouldn't come to the hospital just because you guys broke up. I called him, but he didn't answer. It's possible that he changed his phone number after he moved, though."

"Wait... he doesn't even know that I'm in the hospital, and he never answered his phone?"

"It seems that way. But, don't worry, okay? I'm sure that he's fine."

"Emily, you don't know that! Have you tried to call Yvonne, too?"

"Yeah, but she didn't answer wither. Spencer, I think that maybe they're just really busy in Maine right now.."

"So busy that they _never_ had one moment to call or answer? I don't believe it, Em. I have a strange feeling that everything isn't fine for them right now. I need to talk to him to confirm that everything's okay."

"Spence..."

"No, Em. In my heart, I feel that something's not right here. Please, tell me something... _anything_. I need information. I don't care anymore that he didn't come to see me. I only want to know if he and Yvonne are okay. Please, do something for me. Find out what's happening."

"I'm gonna try... for you."

She left Spencer's room. She started to feel that everything wasn't okay, too. Toby _and_ Yvonne didn't answer their phones for a long time. Emily went to the hospital's waiting room. She didn't know what to do to get the information about Toby and Yvonne. She decided that she would talk with detective Marco Furey. He knew Toby a bit because they worked together at the Rosewood Police Department.

"Hey, Detective Furey... can we talk?"

"Yeah, sure... of course. I need to go to work in a little bit, but we can talk quickly now. Do you know something new about Spencer?"

"No, not exactly, but Spencer thinks that something bad has happened to Toby. He's not answering his phone, and Yvonne isn't either. If you know something..."

"I don't know anything, Emily. I'm sorry. But, are you sure that _this_ isn't a possibility? I've had a feeling that Spencer has feelings for Toby, and look, I don't wanna sound crazy, but is there a possibility that Spencer's just sad that Toby didn't come to see her?"

"I don't think that it's like that, sir. Toby and Yvonne haven't answered their phones in a long time, and it's really weird that Toby didn't come to see Spencer. He would definitely come to the hospital to see her if he knew."

"Well, is there a possibility that he's just busy with his new life with Yvonne in Maine?"

"Sir, please. I need to know if they're okay. Do you have information or not?"

"I already said no... but I'll try to find any information that I can when I go to work today. If Spencer wants an answer, I'll do anything. Is that okay?"

"Yes. Thank you so much. This is something that's really important to Spencer."

"I understand. I'll do everything I can."

* * *

Later, Emily finally got a call from Marco.

"Good afternoon, Miss Fields. Unfortunately, I did find information about Toby Cavanaugh and Yvonne Phillips. There was... there was actually an accident a few days ago. It was the same day that the unknown person shot Spencer, actually."

" _What_? Marco, please... what happened with Toby?"

"It's terrible... there was a car accident. There's not a lot of information, but Toby Cavanaugh and Yvonne Phillips were in the car. We don't have all the details, but they should be at the Rosewood Hospital now. I don't know if they're okay or even alive... I'm so sorry. Toby was a great man and an excellent officer. I'm gonna come to the hospital after I finish my work, but again, I'm so sorry. I know that this is really hard for you and for Spencer."

"Oh my god... thank you for telling me, Detective Furey. I should go to see her now."

"I understand. Good luck."

The fear ran through her body. She was still waiting at the hospital, but after her call with Marco, she got up out of her seat in the waiting room. She knew that she needed to speak with a doctor. Aria already left the hospital to meet up with Ezra, and Hanna did the same with Caleb. However, after Emily spoke with Spencer, she knew that she had to say nearby Spencer until they figured everything out. Alison insisted that she would stay at the hospital with Emily, too, and Emily appreciated that because even though Alison had a lot of her own problems on her mind, she still wanted to stay in the hospital to support her.

"Em. Where are you going? What did Detective Furey say?"

"He said that Yvonne and Toby were in a car accident a few days ago... the same day that Spencer was shot, actually. And nobody knows anything about their condition. I don't even know if he's alive, Ali!"

"You shouldn't be thinking this way, Em. We have to try and be positive, even if it's hard."

"How is that even possible, Ali? Toby has always been one of my best friends, since high school. We've done so many things together, and we've been through so much together. I don't want to live in a world without him... and I don't think that Spencer would be able to handle it either."

"I understand, but all we can do right now is find him. Is he in this hospital?"

"If he's alive, yeah, he's here... but if he's not, you know where he is."

"Please... you talking so morbidly isn't helping in this situation. Let's just go to the front desk and demand that they show us where Yvonne and Toby are. Okay?"

Emily felt a lot safer and more secure with Alison by her side. She didn't know if she would have been able to deal with this by herself right now. They went to the front desk like Alison suggested.

"Hello. We need some information about some patients here," Alison said.

"The patients' information is confidential. I'm really sorry, ma'am."

"You don't understand. We're friends of the patients, and we want to visit them," Alison explained.

"Well, I can help you two if I know more information about the patients. Tell me their names, please."

"Toby Cavanaugh. Yvonne Phillips."

"Oh. Yvonne can see visitors right now, actually. I can show you her room, if you'd want that."

"Yeah, we'd like to see her. And what about Toby?"

"Both of them have finished their surgeries. Yvonne recovered and can talk with her visitors. And I'm sorry, but... Mister Cavanaugh isn't in a good enough condition right now, but the doctors have done everything that they can do at this point. You both can visit him if you want, too, but right now, he can't respond. He's in a coma. It's just a waiting game now, ladies."

"No!" Emily yelled, clinging onto the fabric of her shirt tightly, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. "Please, what you said needs to have been a mistake, ma'am... Please. How can he be in a coma?"

"I'm sorry, girls. I'm going to call a doctor to show you Toby Cavanaugh's emergency room. He can explain all the details about Mister Cavanaugh's condition."

While they stood there waiting, Alison hugged her. She let Emily's tears fall onto her shirt. Emily rested her head on Alison's shoulders, never wanting to separate herself from the blonde's body. Emily couldn't believe that Toby was in a coma, and she couldn't imagine the moment that she would have to bring that heartbreaking information to Spencer. Spencer loved him more than everyone, despite their break up. Their break up didn't break the love that she felt for him, and Emily just knew it.

The doctor finally arrived and he brought them to one of the emergency rooms. He opened the door, and both of the girls had to see him... laying there, looking like he was lifeless. Emily's heart broke when she saw him like that. He didn't look like himself anymore. There was something different.

"We did the surgery. He has some injuries that are quite bad from his car accident. We don't really know if he's going to wake up right now. I'm sorry, ladies."

Emily locked her eyes on his body that was laying there like a dead body... a freaking corpse. She wanted her best friend back. She wanted the man who Spencer loved more than any man back. A part of Emily still believed that Spencer was the love of Toby's life.

"The woman that was with him in the car during the accident is fine right now. She's in the room next door if you both would like to see her."

"Doctor, did he get a lot of visitors?" Emily asked. She hoped that he hadn't been alone through this all. She hoped that people had come to see him, since she couldn't.

"I think that some people came. I know that his sister came once. I also believe that other members of his family came, but it wouldn't be a good idea for me to try and identify all of them for you."

"I understand."

"Yes... I'm going to give you both the time alone to see him."

The doctor left the emergency room. When he left, Emily immediately went near the bed. She touched his hands while Emily watched, not knowing what to do. Alison felt a lot of sadness. She knew that Toby was a good man, and she also knew that Emily and Spencer loved him _a lot_. He was always an extremely important figure in their lives. Alison didn't want for them to have to suffer through this pain.

"Please... please, Toby. You need to wake up for me... for Spencer... for Yvonne... for everyone in your family, and all the people who love you. I love you, Toby. I love you so much. I need you in my life."

Her tears fell onto her cheeks. In her mind, she was preparing to have to break the terrible news to Spencer.

Feeling like she was bothering Alison by making her wait here while she spoke to Toby, Emily said, "I can come back after, Ali. We should probably see Yvonne now."

"No, it's okay, Emily. You can stay here for however long you want. I'll just wait here."

"Thanks, but... it's also more important that I talk to Spencer about this."

"I understand. We can go. Yvonne's in the room next door, like the doctor said."

Emily and Alison went to Yvonne's room next. She seemed quite surprised to see them there.

"Emily? Alison?"

"Hi, Yvonne..." Emily began. "I just heard the terrible news. I'm so sorry."

Yvonne began to cry. She gripped onto her hospital gown to try and control herself, but the tears kept flowing.

"This isn't a part of our plan. We were going to start our life in Maine, and now... it's possible that I'm going to lose him?"

"We have to believe that he's going to wake up. Hope is all that we have right now."

"Waiting is killing me slowly. I need the answer. I have _never_ been the type of woman who has patience. The anxiety is killing me, Emily. I thought that my biggest problem was that I believed and convinced myself that Toby still had feelings for Spencer, but now, all that's important to me is that he wakes up from his coma." Yvonne looked around the room and saw that Spencer wasn't there with Emily and Alison, which was odd. "Speaking of Spencer... where is she? I thought that she would definitely be here to see him after everything."

"Normally, she'd be here immediately, but... on the day of your accident, she was in an accident, too. Someone shot her."

"Oh my god. Someone _shot_ her? Why is bad stuff like this even happening in the world? What's happening anymore? Everything is falling apart!"

"I don't know, but fortunately, she's okay. But _unfortunately_ , I'm going to have to tell her what happened to Toby."

* * *

Emily and Alison returned to Spencer's room. Finally, the moment where Emily would have to destroy her friend's heart came. With slow hands, she opened the room's door. Spencer looked tired and as if she couldn't tolerate much more of this. Clearly, she had been waiting anxiously. Alison waited near the door while Emily went near Spencer's hospital bed. She touched her face, trying to hold back her emotions.

"What happened, Em?"

"I spoke with Marco, and then with the doctors. There was a car accident on the same day that A.D. shot you."

" _Em_."

Spencer's eyes widened at the shocking news. Negative thoughts filled her mind, breaking and corrupting the last shreds of hope that she had.

"Spencer, they were driving towards Maine, and then there was a terrible accident. They got their surgeries, and we don't have control of the rest now. Yvonne woke up after her surgery, but Toby..."

" _Em_."

The pain was too much for her. Emily had to stop in the middle of her sentence because it was too hard to explain something so terrible. The silence killed Spencer more— the anxiety of the unknown. She always wanted the answers, especially when there was a possibility that the answers were terrible. She couldn't wait any longer. She squeezed Emily's hand, demanding the answer with her actions.

"The truth is... he's in a coma, Spencer... and the doctors don't know whether or not he's going to wake up."

Her mouth widened, and immediately, tears began falling from her eyes. _No, no, no... this is not the way that everything's supposed to be. I need him in mu life. I can't live in a world without him. My jealousy of his relationship with Yvonne never was important. All that's important is that he wakes up. I love him with everything in my heart. He showed me the meaning of what love is, and what it means to be in love. He was the first person that I loved in my life. And I never had the opportunity to tell him that I still love him now._

"Spencer, please... tell me what's on your mind."

"I love him, Emily. I _love_ him so much. He needs to wake up... please."

"We _all_ love him. We need to believe that he'll wake up. It's all that we can really do."

"It's not enough. _Nothing_ is enough anymore. I have to doubt my faith in this world if a person with intentions as good as Toby's deserves a fate this terrible. And no one understands the love that I feel for him, Em... I love him so much, and now I can't tell him that. He can't live his life, and accomplish all the things that he wanted to do. One day, he told me that he wanted to stop being a police officer, and that he wanted to start his own carpentry business. He always had so much talent with carpentry. And one part of my mind believed that he loved me, too, and that he would come back from Maine for me. He built me that house... I always believed that he was building it for Yvonne, but he told me the truth recently. And in my mind, I believed that he would come back to Rosewood and that we would live in the house that he built for us. I have never been a person who believes in a movie or fairytale ending. My relationship with Toby was never perfect, but he was my fairytale. No one ever loved me more than he did."

Emily was surprised by Spencer's words. She always had an idea that Spencer still had feelings for Toby, but it was completely different to hear her express her feelings for him— they were more profound and sincere than Emily thought. She never realized the fact that Spencer felt this way. It was a shame that she only confessed it after a tragedy like this.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone! Sorry for the long wait to translate the second chapter (the Spanish version has already been up for a while now). I am currently working on the third Spanish chapter, and will translate that once it is done. Thank you for your patience, reviews, follows, favorites, and reads; they are much appreciated! Here is the second chapter of _Recovery_.**

* * *

2

Spencer spent her time with her eyes fixed on the window, watching the storm with its sounds from the intense rain. Emily was stuck by her side, hoping that something would change. The two girls hated the sadness... they had spent the majority of their lives with sadness, beginning in their high school days, trapped in a vicious cycle that finally ended, but began again now. Additionally, the two girls felt an inexplainable feeling of guilt, although it was not their fault in reality. Alison did not know how to comfort them, and therefore sat in a chair in the back with a conflicted expression on her face.

With time, the doctors told Emily and Alison that they had to leave the room. They left, as the doctors told them to, but they returned every day to see Spencer and check on her. After a few days, they brought the news to Aria and Hanna. Immediately after, Aria and Hanna left the sides of their significant others and returned to the hospital. Aria, Alison, and Hanna couldn't even begin to imagine the pain that Emily and Spencer felt. They already felt extremely saddened by the situation, and therefore couldn't even imagine the sadness that the other two girls were feeling.

One day, Spencer's doctor came into her room with a bright smile that Spencer didn't understand due to the sadness that she was feeling. She didn't understand _anyone's_ happiness right now because she felt like there wasn't happiness in the world anymore. She felt as if there wasn't a reason for faith and hope. The world robbed her of the best man that she had ever known in her entire life.

"Good day, Miss Hastings. It's a _great_ day. Today, we're going to discharge you from the hospital. You can finally go to your house. I have already given all the paperwork to your parents. They insisted that they would do the work for you because they know that you're extremely tired. But you are an adult, so it's your right if you want to do it."

"It's fine. I trust my parents. I want them to finish this process quickly. There's something that I need to do today."

"What is it? Can I do something for you, Miss?"

"Hmm... actually, yeah... there's something that you can do. After the paperwork process is finalized, I need to visit somebody. Can you show me to his hospital room?"

"Of course, Miss. I can look at the list of patients now and find his room if you tell me the name of the patient."

"Toby Cavanaugh."

"Okay. I will return after the paperwork process and after I find the patient's information."

"Thank you, Doctor."

After the doctor left her room, someone else arrived: Detective Marco Furey. Spencer was a little bit surprised. He hadn't visited her in the hospital a lot since the first time. He came once to give her his condolences about what happened with Toby. This time, he carried flowers in his hands, and had a weak smile on his face, as if he would break her if he said the wrong thing. Spencer hated this state of weakness that everyone thought that she was in... and maybe she was actually in it. She wanted her power: the control of the situation with Toby.

"Hey, Spencer. I'm sorry that I haven't visited you a lot. I had a lot of work that I needed to do in the past few days, but I heard that you can leave the hospital today. Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Marco. I appreciate it, and I appreciate the flowers, too."

"Of course. I would do anything for you, Spencer."

Her friends, who were also in the room, felt slightly uncomfortable. They knew that Spencer and Marco had something between them, but they didn't know that their relationship was at the level where Marco would do anything for her. However, they _did_ know that he cared a lot about her.

"Girls, can I talk with Spencer for a quick moment?"

The girls all nodded their heads and left the room for a moment, although they really wanted to listen to the conversation.

"Thank you, ladies," he said, and closed the room's door. "I feel terrible that I didn't come to see you a lot."

"No, Marco... it's not a problem. I understand that you have to manage your work. And also, I am _not_ your problem."

"No, you don't have to say that, Spencer. You _are_ my problem. I _want_ you to be my problem. In fact, you're not even a problem. You're a privilege."

"Well... thanks, but don't worry about it, Marco. I appreciate that you came here at all. Also, I really appreciate that you helped Emily and I with finding out the information about Toby. You have done more than is necessary for me, and I'm so grateful. You are a good man, Marco Furey. Therefore, you don't need to be by my side all the time. My friends and my family have never left from my side. I have never felt alone."

"Good. I'm happy to hear it. I'm also really happy to hear that you can leave the hospital today."

"Yeah, me too. I'm going to be able to see Toby today."

"Yeah, that's good."

Spencer paused.

"Marco, why are you even here?"

"I thought that you'd want me here..."

"Yeah, I mean... I'm happy that you came. But, why do you want to talk with me alone? Why did you tell my friends that they should leave the room? You want to talk _alone_ with me?"

"In reality, my answer is yes... um... well... I just thought that we could do something together now that you can leave the hospital. I understand that you're a little bit week since you're just getting out, but when you feel a little better, maybe we can."

"Marco... I would like to, but this isn't a good time. You know that I'm not thinking about going out with anybody right now... I don't know how much time that I'll need, too. The only thing on my mind right now is the state of Toby's health. I need to be with him right now."

"I understand, but... you know I can wait for you. I _want_ to wait for you. You're so worth it, Spencer. I promise."

"Look, I don't know where my heart is at the moment..."

"Really?" Marco grew a little frustrated now. "Or do you just not want to tell me that your heart is with Toby?"

" _Marco_ , he's in a coma! Right now, my problem is not my feelings. This is a problem that deals with life or death. And the only thing that is important is that he lives."

"Yeah, and I understand your sadness completely. I see that Emily and everybody else feel extremely sad right now. I understand that _you_ are sad, too, but there's a difference, Spencer. There's a difference between the feeling of sadness because he was your friend who is in a bad condition and the feeling of sadness because someone who you _love_ in a romantic way is in a bad condition. And I don't want to be a villain... I understand that I'm acting insensible, but you know that I have feelings for you. I don't think it's crazy that I want an answer."

"Look, my judgment is not good at this moment. I can't make meaningful decisions right now."

"You _can't_ or you _won't_?"

"The fact is that I feel like my judgment is messed up. You have been a very patient man for me..."

"You don't have to give me words of sympathy, Spencer. I only want you to give me a straight answer. I can wait for a lot of time if you feel the same way that I do, but if you have feelings for a different person, it's not the same thing. Everything is different in the second situation that I described. I have all the respect in the world for you, but I have respect for myself, too. And to me, it's clear that you don't feel the same way that I do. And I do understand that you're distracted by the situation... it's something difficult to deal with."

Fortunately for Spencer, the door opened before she could respond, and her parents and the doctor entered. In his hands, the doctor carried the paperwork that Spencer's parents had filled out earlier. Her parents watched them for a short amount of time, confused because Detective Marco Furey was inside of their daughter's hospital room. Marco set the flowers he brought down on the nearest table in the room, feeling rejected as he was leaving. Veronica ignored him and put her hand on her daughter's cheek, caressing her cheeks with the happiness at the news of her good health.

"I love you so much, sweetheart," Veronica said. "We are _so_ elated that you are okay, and that you can finally come back to our home again."

"Yeah, me too, Mom."

Peter put on his jacket while a huge smile formed on his face.

"Alright. Can we finally go home now?" Peter asked.

"Well, your daughter wants to see another patient, actually. She told me so," the doctor said.

"Who?" Veronica asked, even more confused now.

"Mom... it's... Toby," Spencer confessed.

"Oh... sweetheart. That's _terrible_. I'm so sorry. What happened? Will he be okay?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know, but there was a car accident, and he's now in a coma. The doctors don't know if he will wake up or not," Spencer explained, with tears appearing on her face again. "I need to see him, Mom."

"I understand."

* * *

Spencer, with slow and weak steps, walked towards the door of Toby's room. She still felt a pain in her stomach in the place that she was shot, but the dolor was worse now. It was a pain from the uncertainty of Toby's condition. She didn't have a clue about what his body looked like. She feared the moment that she would have to see him in such a lifeless condition. How would she be able to see the man with the most beautiful mind and spirit in such a terrible condition? It wasn't fair— the world just wasn't fair.

She opened the door. There was a heart monitor without much life on it, and there was his body with closed eyes... it almost looked like a dead body... an actual corpse. He looked dead with his pale face. There wasn't a smile on his face, obviously. There wasn't that sparkle in his eyes that were the color of the ocean, which usually held so much life and beauty. He wasn't the Toby Cavanaugh that she had known for so many years right now. He was like a corpse that she had never met before.

"Why?"

Spencer went closer to his body. She touched his face.

"This isn't you, Toby. It's just not you. You are more... you _deserve_ more than this. You deserve love and happiness and all the good things in the world. The world allowed me to live, but it doesn't want you to live? In my mind, it just isn't fair. You deserve the world and more. You are the best man that I have ever met in my life. You are my idol... my inspiration... the reason that I know that there is more to life than material things. You are my definition of love, Toby. I need you to wake up. You need to know that I love you so much... you need to know that my biggest mistake in my life was the moment that I didn't fight for us... the moment that I let you leave me. The truth is that I love you. I love you so much, and I hope that you can hear me somehow, some way... If I had one wish, it would be your life. Am I selfish to say all of this while you have a fiancé? Probably. I'm selfish because I want to hear that you love me, too. But, how many times can I say it to you? I love you, Toby. And I think that you're the love of my life."

Suddenly, as if it were magic, his heart monitor became active, making lots of noises.

"Doctor!" Spencer yelled, with wide eyes. It was unreal. "We need doctors in here!"

A group of doctors ran inside of the room. Spencer backed away from his bed, permitting the doctors to do their job. She saw Toby, trying so hard to breathe— but she saw life inside of him. Spencer's heart regained some hope again. It felt unreal because immediately after her words of hopelessness, he began to breathe. It was like a dream, and nothing more.

"How do you feel, Mister Cavanaugh? Can you hear me? Speak, please!"

He breathed with open eyes, and clearly with a lot of suffering, but he was alive.

" _Spencer_."

Spencer was surprised to hear her name fall off of his lips. He said her name so weakly.

"Toby?"

"Miss Hastings, we need you to leave this room. We are going to stabilize him, and we will call you afterwards, okay?"

"Okay."

Toby, fighting to breathe, said, "Stay, please!"

" _Miss Hastings_ , we understand that it is hard, but we need you to leave right now."

Spencer wanted to stay with Toby, but she had to listen to the doctors. With a sorry and regretful smile on her face, she left Toby's room. He looked so sad, but she couldn't do anything about it. However, her happiness and hope were more important. Toby was alive, and she couldn't stop repeating the thought in her mind. Immediately, she ran towards her family and friends in the waiting room to tell them the news.

"Toby woke up!" Spencer exclaimed with a jolt of energy in her body.

Emily practically hopped out of her seat in the waiting room and hugged Spencer tightly. Soon after, the other girls joined the hug, hugging them equally as tightly. After that, her parents did the same thing. The feeling of relief extended throughout the waiting room. When Spencer saw life inside of Toby's eyes, everything felt okay once again. She didn't know what she would have done if she had lost him.

"Where is Detective Furey?" Spencer asked.

"He left the hospital already, but don't worry, Spencer. You can talk with him later. You should focus on Toby," Emily said.

Emily didn't understand the situation with Marco, especially after Spencer's confession about her feelings for Toby. Now, Emily knew that Spencer was still in love with Toby.

"You're right. The doctors are stabilizing him right now, but we can see him afterwards," Spencer explained.

A few minutes later, Ezra and Caleb arrived at the hospital with bright smiles on their faces.

"I heard from Aria that Toby is alive, and Caleb heard the same from Hanna," Ezra announced. "We're so happy and relieved, Spencer. This is fantastic news."

"Yeah. Thank you for coming, guys," Spencer said, and hugged them both.

"Of course," Caleb said. "Toby has been a close friend of mine for so long. I was so worried about him. We came here the minute that we found out that he's fine."

The relationship between Spencer and Caleb improved greatly. There had been a lot of problems after their break up, but Spencer now understood that Caleb still had strong feelings for Hanna. And now, Spencer didn't think of Caleb as an ex-boyfriend; he was more of a good friend who she shared many great memories with. She would never forget her memories in Madrid with Caleb, but she knew that they didn't have a romantic future together. In reality, Spencer never lost her feelings for Toby. Everything became clear to her after the accident.

"Can we see him?" Caleb asked.

"In a little while. The doctors are stabilizing him," Spencer explained again.

Caleb kissed Hanna quickly and took a seat in one of the chairs. Spencer stayed standing in the waiting room, waiting and waiting. Finally, the same doctor from Toby's room came to the waiting room with a smile on his face, meaning that there was good news coming about Toby's condition.

"Hello. I know that this was very difficult for everyone, but the hardships have ended. Mister Cavanaugh is stable and is ready in his emergency room. He's completely conscious, and can respond and talk to everyone. It seems that everything is going to be perfectly fine. It was a wonderful recovery."

"Thank you, Doctor," Spencer said, and ran to Toby's room without waiting any longer.

When she arrived inside of his room, she saw that she wasn't Toby's first visitor. It wasn't a surprise, but Yvonne was already there by his side. They both had huge smiles on their faces, looking more in love than ever before. Hopelessness returned to Spencer's heart. Her jealousy returned, although she was so happy that Toby was okay. Her heart broke even more when she saw Yvonne lean in and kiss Toby. It was an adorable, pleasant, and happy kiss. Toby reciprocated it completely. His hands were placed on her back, rubbing it and holding his fiancé very close to his body. They were happy together, and Spencer saw it clearly.

"Spencer..." Emily whispered. "I know that's really hard for you to see them together, but you need to be strong. You are a strong person."

"I'm going to try to be," Spencer sighed.

Yvonne turned her head and saw Spencer there.

"Spencer!" she exclaimed. "Thank you for coming! Emily told me about everything that happened. I'm so sorry, and I'm so happy that you woke up."

"Yeah, me too..."

Toby, continuing to hold his fiancé, looked at Spencer with sadness in his eyes. It was a look of regret. He fixed his eyes on Spencer, giving her a look so strong that Spencer hoped she wasn't receiving, because she felt even more lost now. She didn't want this look while he was kissing and holding onto his fiancé. She almost forgot that he had a loving fiancé with the look that he gave her.

"Do you want to talk with Toby?" Yvonne asked, with a smile that showed that she had no idea that Spencer was still in love with her fiancé.

"Yeah," Spencer answered. She walked closer and sat down on the floor near the bed. "I thought that I had lost you, Toby."

"No, you didn't lose me. You never lost me," he said, and Spencer had a feeling that he wasn't just talking about the accident and his sudden recovery from it.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm baaack! Sorry for the long wait. I have already posted the Spanish chapter (Recuperación), if you would like to check that version out. Anyways, I'm excited for this one because there's something that's not related to Spoby, but... it's another pairing. I'll discuss it more at the end (I think it'll become obvious when you read the chapter, if it's not already obvious). But of course, there are some very important Spoby-related things going on in this chapter as well. Anyways, leave a review!**

* * *

3

Spencer came to the hospital every day to check on Toby's condition. He was getting better day by day, and Spencer knew that the day where he would be able to leave the hospital would come very quickly. She was really happy that he woke up, but she didn't want him to leave from Rosewood. She saw the relationship between Yvonne and Toby, and everything was still good. And for that reason, Spencer believed that they would continue with their move to Maine the second that they could.

One day, Spencer went to the hospital, and went towards Toby's emergency room. She opened the door a little bit, and saw that Marco Furey was inside of the room. Her eyes widened, and she moved a little bit away to assure that Marco wouldn't see her. However, both of the men heard the noise from the door and turned their heads to look at her. Marco turned his body, looking at Spencer without an understandable expression on his face. She wasn't able to read him, but he seemed a little bit frustrated. But it wasn't a surprise because she already knew that he wasn't happy with her after their previous conversation about Toby and their relationship in the hospital the other day.

"Spencer," Marco acknowledged. "It's not a surprise that you're here."

"Yeah, I try to come often," she explained. "But, why are you here?"

"Why not?" he raised his eyebrows. "I work with this man, and I want to check on his condition. It's not a problem for you, is it?"

"No... no, it's not a problem. I never said that it's a problem," she said, feeling a bit frustrated as well. She didn't appreciate his behavior or his attitude today at all.

Toby didn't really understand the situation. He suspected that there was something between Marco and Spencer, and because of that, he gave advice to Marco about planning a date for her. Toby gave Marco a lot of information about the things that Spencer liked, including her favorite order from this fast food restaurant that she and Toby went to a lot of times in the past. And for that reason, he was still able to remember Spencer's order perfectly. It was one of the things that he would never forget. They had been to that restaurant together so many times, and because of that, he had memorized her order. He had heard that Spencer and Caleb's relationship ended, and wanted to help her with her relationship with Marco, so he decided to give some of those facts to Marco.

"Is there a problem?" Toby asked her. "Because we can resolve it."

"No, there's no problem. Don't worry about it, Cavanaugh," Marco said. "It's been really great to see you, man, and I'm so glad that you're all right. My heart broke when I heard the bad news."

"Thanks for coming, Furey. I'm really happy to have my life back again," he laughed.

Marco smiled at him and left from the room, but Spencer wanted to talk to him. She didn't want to go on this way.

"Toby, give me a second. I want to talk to him."

She left from the room as well, and touched Marco's back gently. He turned around with an angry face, but Spencer wasn't planning on playing games any longer. She wanted to resolve this matter with Marco in a mature way because they were adults and needed to resolve their problems that way.

"What?" he demanded. "What do you want, Spencer?"

"I just want to talk, Marco. This isn't fair."

"What isn't fair?"

"Your behavior... your attitude... the way that you're treating me right now."

"I still haven't done anything. And actually, it's funny that _I'm_ not furious with _your_ attitude."

"I don't have an attitude. I just didn't want to give you an answer about our relationship the other day. I didn't do anything either, so you know that this isn't fair, Marco. I just wasn't in a place to think about romantic relationships. I don't understand why you have to be this way."

"Well, you're not in that _place_ anymore, so you can give me an answer now. It should be easy if you actually have feelings for me... if it's not a game for you. Say something about it, Spencer."

"You're ridiculous."

"Seriously? That's all that you wanna say?"

"Marco... of course I have feelings for you, but I'm confused now. Why can't you understand me? There are things that are more important for me right now."

"I _understand_ that you're going through a lot of hard stuff right now, but you should know the person who you truly have feelings for."

"I _just_ said that I do have feelings for you. Did you not heard me?"

"I heard you... and I heard what you said perfectly well. But that's not good enough. I'm happy that you have feelings for me, but you can't say that I'm the only person who you have feelings for, and you know that. But you can't do anything about it because he already has a fiancé, right?"

"That's not true. You're talking out of your ass."

He scoffed. "Fantastic. I never knew that you were a comedian, Spencer. It's a joke that you can't see the truth. You have feelings for Toby, and the both of us know it damn well. You don't have to lie to yourself anymore. You can be honest. Or you can show me or tell me that I'm incorrect. You couldn't do that the other day, but I understand that because you probably had a ton of stuff on your mind, but that conflict has already passed. You're here, and he's here, too. You all survived, so you can give me a response now. I'm a patient man, but I'm not patient about you having feelings for another man. Tell me the truth so that I don't have to wait for you forever."

"You want an answer? Well, the truth is that I don't have feelings for Toby, and you've created a lie in your mind due to your own personal insecurities. I'm starting to reconsider my feelings for you because it's clear that you're not the man that I thought you were."

Marco stood still there while Spencer left and entered Toby's room again. Marco had a guilty look on his face, feeling like he had destroyed his chance with her. He sighed, putting his hands in the pockets of his dress pants.

Spencer closed Toby's door and walked closer to his bed. She sat down on the floor.

"Hey... what happened with him? Is there a problem?"

"It's not important..."

" _Of course_ it's important, Spencer. I know that he has a lot of feelings for you. He's told me a little bit about how he feels about you, and I tried to help him with it. I told him a few things..."

"I had a feeling that you were the person who told Marco that I love that cherry soda. He knew my whole order from that fast food restaurant we used to go to!"

"Yeah, I'm the person, but I was just trying to help you guys out... I thought that you had feelings for him, too. Is that not true?"

"Toby... why are we talking about this stuff?'

"Why not? I want to talk about normal things. I can't talk about the accident anymore... I can only talk about it so many times. I want to have a normal conversation."

"I understand, but I don't want to talk about him."

"Are you sure? If there's a problem, I can talk with him."

"That isn't necessary."

"At least... can you tell me what the problem is?"

"It's a really complicated matter..."

"You know that I understand complicated matters. You and I have done complicated before. I doubt that the problem could be more complicated than anything that you and I have had."

"This isn't your place."

"Seriously? I thought that we were friends, Spencer."

"Friends? It's possible, but we aren't at this level where we can talk about stuff like this. We were never just friends, Toby, you know that. You're my ex-boyfriend, and we've tried to be good friends, but it's really weird. I can never be your good friend who talks to you about my romantic relationships. That isn't possible for me. I'm sorry, Toby... I really am sorry. But it just isn't possible."

"Why are you acting like this? You know that that isn't the truth. Yeah, the truth is that you're my ex-girlfriend, but don't talk to me like we were never friends. You will always be important to me."

"Of course you're important to me, too, but that isn't the point. The point is that you have your life and I have mine. You should focus on your fiancé."

"Seriously? You're ridiculous."

* * *

Spencer drove to Emily's house to talk. She felt terrible about what she did at the hospital that day. But after her argument with Marco, she was even more confused than she was before. When she was talking with Toby, it hit her that he really did have a fiancé who he loved, and Spencer felt so vulnerable and defenseless in this situation. She knew that she loved Toby, too. She confessed it during a really desperate and low moment, but she meant everything that she said. The situation in the hospital was the catalyst to show her that she was still in love with him, although she always had a feeling in her heart that she still loved him. But her love wasn't a good thing in this new context... it was a problem... it was a conflict that made her life even more complicated than before. She hoped that she could completely fall in love with Marco, or any other man, but her heart was fixed on Toby Cavanaugh. She could only hope that she would lose her feelings for him with some time. But she feared that she would love him forever and would have to survive through the sadness forever.

She arrived at Emily's house, and went to the door. She waited outside until Emily came and opened the door, dressed in her underwear and a flannel shirt... with her shirt covering the majority of her underwear. Her hair was disheveled, and she had a look of guilt on her face. Spencer recognized that disheveled hair very well— it was sex hair. Spencer ignored it because she knew that Emily was already feeling really guilty, based on that look on her face. Also, she knew that Emily had a girlfriend, or at least a girl who she had been seeing for a little while now. Her name was Sabrina, and she was a pretty nice girl overall. And because of that, it wasn't surprising that Emily was doing stuff like this. They were in a relationship.

"Hey. I can leave if you're busy right now—"

"No, it's okay, Spencer. I'm sorry. Can you give me a minute to change my clothes, though?"

"Yeah, of course. I suppose that _Sabrina_ 's here, right?"

"Um, one minute, Spencer... Wait here."

But before Emily could go upstairs to change her clothes, _Alison DiLaurentis_ came. She looked at the door with wide eyes.

"Spencer..." Alison acknowledged nervously. "I didn't know that you would be here."

"...I can say the same thing."

Alison ignored her comment. "Well, I don't want to interrupt you two. I'm gonna wait upstairs."

Spencer stood there in silence while Alison left.

"So..." Emily began. "You wanted to talk, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not that important. Em, what's happening with _you_? You haven't told us anything about this! Honestly, I didn't even know that you and Sabrina ended your relationship. And... what's happening with _Alison_?"

"Oh wow, you've got a lot of questions, Spence... and it's something that's pretty complicated."

" _Of course_ I've got a ton of questions. I've already told you about my own feelings, why can't you do the same thing with me? And also, this is something with _Alison_. It's a big deal... a really big thing, I know that... And that's the reason that I think that we should know about it by now. I mean, at least you should tell _me_ everything now. I don't understand _anything_. I don't understand how all these things are happening, and how you're doing all these 'things' with Alison."

"I _know_ that you all won't understand our relationship. That's the reason that I haven't said anything about it. The truth is that it's something that's pretty complicated, we didn't have much time to think about our relationship because we've had so many crazy things happening lately that we needed to focus on. But now, you and Toby got up, and you're all okay, so... we've had a little more time to think about things. But you guys will never understand this thing. I can't explain it... You guys are just gonna end up judging us."

"No... no, that's not true. You didn't judge me after everything I told you about Toby."

"But that's different. It's Toby... and it's you. You guys are _Spencer and Toby_. All of us had a feeling that the thing between you guys never died. With me and Alison, it's a different story. She did a lot of bad things in the past, and because of that, everyone's gonna wanna give their opinion on our relationship."

"How would you know that? You both haven't told us anything yet."

"Because... because I _know_ , Spencer. I know the truth. You guys have always had your doubts about Alison. You guys have never really trusted her or forgiven her. How would you ever 'understand' this?"

"I can understand it if you explain it to me. I can understand... I can support you. I _want_ to support you, you know that. You're one of my best friends. It's a little weird for me to hear, but if you love her, and she loves you, how can I say no to that? Your happiness is the most important thing in this situation, Emily."

"Thank you, Spencer. Really... this means a lot to me. I felt like no one was going to support us with this. I thought that it was gonna be a tough fight to convince everyone that it's real. Honestly, I thought that you would be the person who was going to be the most opposed to it."

"Well," she laughed. "I'm a little bit offended that you would think that, but I understand that this has been really difficult for you, so I'm going to ignore that. But I want you to know that you can tell me anything in the world... anything at all. I'm your friend, and I'm always gonna be there for you... the same way that you were there for me, and for Toby."

"Again, thank you, Spencer... You have no idea how much I appreciate everything that you've been saying."

"Always. So, you wanna tell me more about this now?"

Emily sighed. "A little bit... but not everything. There's still a lot of stuff that she and I need to understand and talk about. But I _can_ tell you that this isn't a joke for either one of us. It's something that's really serious, at least for me it is. You already know that... I loved her when we were younger, back in high school... but she couldn't accept her feelings. And we've always had something special between us, but we're finally accepting it. It was pretty recently, but one night, she, um... she kissed me while we were watching a movie at her house. And after that, she stood by my side and supported me in so many ways. I supported her back. And as you can see, it's become something more now. I'm finally... happy."

"Did you have 'something' with her in the past, too?"

"Yeah, it's not completely new. We didn't have a real relationship before or anything, but it's something that has always existed in my opinion. She was always on my mind while I was dating other girls. But one part of my mind always knew that... she was the one. It sounds crazy, I know, but... you probably understand that feeling. It's the same feeling that you have about Toby. Also, I've never told anybody this, but... we did have history. In the past, we kissed a few times. And one night, a little while after she returned from hiding from A, I... I slept over at her house. And something happened there that night."

Spencer smirked. "I'm guessing you both probably didn't do much sleeping that night, right?"

"Yeah... well, I've already told you a lot more about this than I wanted to. So... you can talk about whatever now. You came here for a reason, didn't you? Tell me about it."

"Yeah, well... it's complicated, too."

"You can't do that! I already told you something way more complicated."

"Well, there are problems with _Marco_."

"Marco? Oh, Spencer... I was hoping that _that_ wouldn't be the truth."

"It's not... completely. He isn't my boyfriend, but it would be a lie to tell you that there's _nothing_ between us. But the truth is that he's been a distraction for me because I didn't want to think about Toby."

"Why not? You love him."

"Are you crazy? Yeah, I love him. And that's exactly the problem, Emily! I can't love him right now. It just isn't a good time. He has a fiancé. And Yvonne is a really good girl... a really nice girl. And I yelled at Toby. I feel so bad about it, but I was jealous, and... I couldn't help it, so I yelled at him. I don't think that I can be near him anymore. It'll probably drive me crazy."

"So, you have to stay far away from him to avoid your feelings for him, at least until you lose those feelings."

"I'm not sure if that's ever gonna happen..."

"Yeah, I know that's probably pretty unlikely. You've had feelings for him for _years_."

"Well, I can say the same thing about _you_."

"I deserved that."

"Yeah, you did."

"So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"The only thing I _can_ do: I'm gonna create so much distance between us, and put all of my attention on a relationship with Marco. Maybe I can have something good with him instead. He's a good guy, and he's helped me a lot recently. But... he's still a little bit mad at me right now because... he kinda might think that I still have feelings for Toby."

"Well, he's an intelligent man then, too, right? He's right about that."

"Yeah, a little... but he doesn't know everything. He doesn't _need_ to know anything, actually. I just have to tell him that I made a mistake when I didn't give him a response to his question, and tell him that my heart is with him. He doesn't know anything that I told you about Toby."

"Spencer, you don't need to tell him things that you don't mean. You _shouldn't_."

"I know, but I can't be alone. Not right now."

"Why not? We have a lot of important things on our minds right now. We have to resolve this thing with A.D. We have to find the person who shot you. There are so many other things that you can do and focus your attention on. You don't have to put your attention on Marco. Honestly, I think that doing that would be a really big mistake."

Spencer stared at the floor, sighing. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'm gonna take the time that I need to recover from all of this. I can be single. I'll still be strong and independent if I'm not dating somebody. It's true that I love Toby, but I'm not gonna do all of the work. He needs to tell me that there's something between us, and then we can do something about it. Until then, I'm gonna focus myself on the things that I need to do. And you're right that there are so many other things that I should be doing. I'm gonna meet with Marco today and end everything between us. I can't keep going on with some weird emotional triangle. It's not fair to anybody."

" _Yes_. It's not a crime to take the time to find yourself. You deserve this."

"Thank you, Em. You've really been here for me a lot recently. Through everything."

"Of course. You told me that you would always be here for me, and, well... I'm gonna tell you the same thing: I'll always be here for you."

"But for now, you should probably give a little bit of attention to your _girlfriend_ , right?"

"Shut up! We haven't decided on anything yet."

"Seriously? I thought that you were already a couple."

"Well, you thought wrong. We're still in a gray area. I told you that this is really complicated; I meant it."

"I'm not doubting you, Emily. And... it was really good talking to you about everything."

"You, too. And, please... I think you should at least talk to Toby. You guys shouldn't end on bad terms like this. If he's actually gonna go to Maine with Yvonne now, you two should at least be friends."

"Yeah. Once again, you're right," Spencer chuckled sadly. "I'm gonna visit the hospital again and give him an apology."

"Good, I'm glad. I'm gonna talk to Alison, so... I'll see you later."

"See you later."

* * *

 **Yeah, so, if it wasn't already obvious: it's _Emison_! They're happening (at least in the story)! I was really excited let Spencer and Emily talk through everything. In an earlier chapter, we got to see Emily listening to Spencer's confession of feelings for Toby, so this was a turn for Spencer to be ears to Emily's confession. There are some parallels between Emison and Spoby's situations. And with such complicated relationships, I thought it would be a perfect time for Spencer and Emily to discuss everything. **


End file.
